Introduction
The nineteenth century was a period of development: more and more machines, means of communication, and movement. The growth in science and technology led to industrialization and changes in familiar roles in society. The problem of changing roles affected women to a greater extent, which is associated with established stereotypes about the purpose of men. Cultural values have changed but remain harmful to half of the world’s population. It is relevant to trace the process of changing the role of women in connection with industrialization and to identify the reasons that greatly influenced this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to establish how industrialization has affected women.
Industrialization: How Women’s Place Changed
Before the machine age, the production center was the household, which allowed people to survive. The number of goods produced determined the success of families and decided the rest of life (Sorgner, 2021). In general, the relationship between women and men was equal as far as the labor component was concerned. However, as society industrialized, the recognized patterns of behavior changed. They were replaced by a new type: the male worker, who dominated machine production, and the female housewife, who was not paid for domestic labor despite its severity. Thus a new class system emerged, and a pronounced division of working society occurred.
The economic working classes were divided into lower, middle, and upper classes. In the lower classes, women performed wage labor, working in factories, taverns, innkeepers, and servants (Sorgner, 2021). They remained partners in the household, continuing in their roles as mothers. Thus, the workload only increased despite the mechanized types of labor. The middle and upper classes could afford the highest material value, which they provided for their families. Women did not work in heavy industrial production but allowed themselves to run hotels or cafes, skillfully managing the money. However, women were not paid for running the household; their role as mothers and caretakers remained the same. This intra-class division demonstrates the increasing power in the hands of men and the insignificant role of women in the economy.
In the Lowell model, it can be established that the division of labor and wages only led to the deterioration of women. In Lowell, competition quickly arose in textile production, making it necessary to work overtime (D’Atri & Flakin, 2021). In 1844, after a decade of strike action, women achieved a ten-hour workday and improved working conditions. Nevertheless, this only reinforced their low social position. Whatever class a woman belonged to, she still had no right to vote and could not own or inherit property (Titmuss, 2018). Unlike men, the female population looked for a way out of work, but American law did not allow them. Many women were forced to return to farming to avoid total ruin and the loss of their children.
The term ideal wife was finally cemented in industrial society. Such a woman stayed home, cared for her children and husband, did not interfere with anything, and ran the household. She was supposed to create a pleasant environment in the home to contribute to the man’s moral character. After marriage, a woman lost even more critical and could not earn personal money or assert her rights in court (Titmuss, 2018). The status of white women was higher than that of women of color: it was easier to induce them to do hard labor, make them work for themselves for a pittance, and leave them to raise children (Hallam, 2016). Still, race did not change the fact that women were raised as mothers and servants without even allowing for the thought of their divergent development.
Great Women: The Beginning of Emancipation
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first event devoted to women’s rights in the United States. The organizers saw the event as a conference to discuss women’s social, civic, and religious status and privileges (Worthen, 2017). The panel consisted of six sessions and included a lecture on law, a humorous play, and discussions of the role of women in society. Elizabeth Stanton pointed out that the gathering is a protest against a government that exists without the opinion of women (D’Atri & Flakin, 2021). In addition, she raised the issues of inequality of work and wages, the dependence of women on their husbands, and how absurd this situation is. The conference relied on the main document of the Declaration of Sentiments, containing 11 resolutions on women’s rights (Worthen, 2017). Almost unanimously, all the resolutions were adopted except the ninth on women’s suffrage. Most male presidents proposed focusing on social and civil rights, leaving politics out. However, the ninth amendment was passed, marking a new turn in the history of women’s rights.
Among the women leaders who fought for union rights was Mary Harris. As a union leader, she began to organize the wives and children of striking workers to demonstrate their support (D’Atri & Flakin, 2021). She also fought vigorously against the use of child labor in manufacturing. Along with Harris, Lucy Parsons also fought for union rights, and after her husband’s execution, she participated in active strikes for workers’ rights. Parsons was an adherent of anarchism and focused on class struggle.
Conclusion
Thus, industrialization changed the position of women in society by revealing their inferior position to men. In the period dominated by farming, rights between man and woman seemed equal, but machine labor showed a great gulf between the two. At the beginning of industrialization, women were not paid equally, could not own property, and their lives had to be centered on maintaining the household. With the arrival of the first feminist movement, the situation began to change. The Seneca Falls Conference, for example, is a landmark event in the struggle for women’s rights. At this point, socialism was not as prevalent, but in the mid-19th century, women fought for labor unions.
References
D’Atri, A., & Flakin, N. (2021). Bourgeois women and proletarian women. In Bread and Roses: Gender and Class Under Capitalism (pp. 19–30). Pluto Press.
Hallam, J. (2016). Men, women & gender. Thirteen. Web.
Sorgner, A. (2021). Gender and industrialization: Developments and trends in the context of developing countries. Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development Working Paper Series. Institute of Labor Economics.
Titmuss, R. M. (2018). Industrialization and the family. In Essays on the welfare state (Reissue) (1st ed., pp. 65-75). Bristol University Press.
Worthen, M. (2017). The women’s rights movement and the women of Seneca Falls. Biography, Web.